netherlands

An aerial view of flower fields is seen near the Keukenhof park, also known as the Garden of Europe, in Lisse, The Netherlands on Wednesday. Keukenhof is considered to be the world’s largest flower garden displaying millions of flowers every year

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands arrives with Queen Maxima in the golden carriage at the seat of the Dutch government in The Hague, Netherlands. The Dutch King officially opened the parliamentary year by reading a speech outlining the government plans for the year ahead.

Aerial view of flowers fields near the Keukenhof park, also known as the Garden of Europe, in Lisse. Keukenhof, employing some 30 gardeners, is considered to be the world’s largest flower garden displaying millions of flowers every year.

Barack Obama, US president (left), and Mark Rutte, Netherlands prime minister (centre), meet in front of Rembrandt’s ‘The Night Watch’ in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam before the start of the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit. The summit, held March 24-25, will be attended by world leaders and is aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism.

A huge inflatable pig is placed in Dam Square in Amsterdam during a protest against illegal practices in European pig farming. The action is part of an international campaign of the animal protection group Compassion in World Farming.

Activists belonging to the environmental group Robin Wood hold placards protesting against Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as they demonstrate in front of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg. The tribunal was holding a hearing into the dispute between the Netherlands and Russia over the seizure by Russian forces of the Dutch-flagged Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise.

“Bedroom in Arles”, painted by Dutch master Vincent Van Gogh, is put on display next to another version of the same painting at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Van Gogh is known to have painted three versions of his bedroom at 2 Place Lamartine, in Arles, France. The third painting is in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

Hamadryas baboons at the Emmen Zoo in Emmen, in the Netherlands, on Wednesday. The baboons have not eaten and sit close together in the trees and in a small corner of their island. A few years ago the same group of baboons showed a similar behaviour of mass apathy that could not be explained by their keepers.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and their daugthers (L-R) Crown Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane wave on the balcony after the abdication ceremony of the King’s mother at the Royal Palace Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on Tuesday. Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands in an official ceremony on Tuesday signed her abdication to leave the Dutch throne to her eldest son Willem-Alexander.

A man wearing sunglasses displays a T-shirt depicting Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in a souvenirs shop in Amsterdam. The country is preparing for Queen’s Day on April 30, which will also mark the abdication of Queen Beatrix and the investiture of her eldest son Willem-Alexander.